Literary Insights

Thursday, August 30, 2012

It opens with an assassination attempt on the
president. He is only wounded, but his best friend and a Secret Service Agent
are killed. It turns out that the attack wasn't without warning. General Andrew
Banks, the Secretary of Homeland Security, received a note that the president
was in danger, and even more alarming, that Secret Service agents guarding the
president had been compromised.General Banks is reluctant to
tell the FBI about the note, So he requests help from his friend, Speaker
Mahoney, and Mahoney assigns his man DeMarco to determine if the Secret Service
was really involved.

The
principal character is DeMarco, who does political odd jobs for a wily old pol
who happens to be Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. DeMarco is
escaping not only a bad marriage, but a family legacy in organized crime, which
gives him an interesting foot in two different camps. It appears that a
disgruntled individual took some shots at the U. S. President (who is a
presence but not a character in this story) and missed, killing some other
folks, before capping his failure with a suicide and a confession. There is
reason to believe that there is more below the surface of this attempt than
meets the eye, and DeMarco is directed to poke around. He's not quite up to the
task, but manages with luck to survive several harrowing experiences and bring
the truth to the semi-light.The
synopsis leads you to believe it is a political thriller but it was more like a poorly rated TV crime story
. There were too many clichés, Italians in the mafia, southern people helpless
and stupid, politicians are all on the take. The poor hero has to go around the
law to find justice, predictable. It
just didn’t have enough to care about what happens.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The
Scent of Rain
by Kristin Billerbeck is about Daphne Sweeten, a scent designer, who finds
herself stood up for her wedding and losing her sense of smell. Her dream job
was also no longer possible as her ex-fiancée took her dream job in Paris. She
decides to move to Ohio, where she had a job waiting, which would have her
developing scents for household products. When Daphne enters into this new job,
a relationship begins with Jesse, the new boss of the company.

The premise of a formally
trained "nose" losing her sense of smell is new and interesting. The
book is an easy read and keeps your interest throughout with a few twists and
turns you may not expect. The heroine was very childlike and insecure and hard to
believe she was a Scientist. Although the premise of the story was curious and
the relationship dynamics were certainly interesting,

I couldn't help but feel that it lacked some
vital spark that could make it a wonderful book. Daphne is not a sympathetic
heroine. I found it very hard to sympathize with her. She's a bit out of touch
with reality and shallow, childish, self-centered and she made terrible choices
that are obviously bad and seems too naive to be real. Her conversations with
the other characters reflect her confusion and poor judgment. The conclusion of the book seemed both rushed
and contrived.

I received copy of eBook from Thomas Nelson Booksneeze program for review

Thursday, August 16, 2012

As the
world becomes ever more impersonal, hectic, and stressful, our hunger grows for
the reality of God’s greatness in our lives. We seek moments of personal
worship and praise to God; we desire His awesome presence. Jerry Bridges,
guides you into God’s throne room for an intensely personal time of worship.

Jerry Bridges acknowledges that worship should be a way
of life. Bridges focuses his efforts on what it means to praise God in our
private worship or personal devotional time. The book is divided into four sections to
direct the reader's focus to worshipping God for His Greatness, Holiness,
Wisdom, and Love. I read through this
encouraging devotional for the review and intend to go back and daily meditate
on God's word for worship. I Exalt You O God is a helpful devotional aid.
the Lord. The section that will become one of my favorites is the prayers of
Scripture verses that flow together to help you learn to make your prayers
worshipful in praising God for who He is. I received this EBook from
WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing in their Blogging for Books program for this
review.

Show Moree The
Power of the Prophetic Blessing,
offers an exciting message of encouragement and blessing for today and for
generations to come. Hagee says, “Every blessing recorded in Scripture is
available to you for the asking. You have not because you ask not. These
blessings have the power to bring supernatural joy, and provide you peace of
mind."

Find out how to become blessed
beyond your capacity to contain it. Deuteronomy 28 contains blessings regarding
your personal life and your material possessions. Hagee walks you through the Hebrew meaning and
Scriptural significance of the well-known blessing, “May the Lord bless you and
keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. And
may He give you peace.”

The Power of the Prophetic Blessing
is not the first book out there regarding this topic, but it is easy to read and a good foundation to learn about the blessings God has for you and
your loves ones. If you are new to this revelation you will love this book. In our complicated day we need good resources
to focus on God’s love for us. When we apply what we learn then we will see the
miracle of the blessing.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Betrayal has a strong
opening and keeps up a brisk pace for the majority of the story. Mildly
predictable, Boone Jackson is Chicago Police officer recently wounded in a
large sting operation he was responsible for planning. He is recovering from
his injuries when he discovers that the girl he's just starting to get to know Haeley
and hoping to get to know better has been accused of plotting against him.
Boone is sure that she is innocent, but as he works to try to clear her name he
has to work through a lot. Things get more complicated as he tries to protect a
witness, clear Haley's name, work through his injury and decide who to trust.

The Betrayal is a crime
novel with some love story aspects mixed in. This novel is not necessarily a
edge-of-your-seat, suspense at every turn type book, but a detective story
about love, betrayal, and friendships. It was easy to read and enjoyable. I
would recommend this book to teens and young adults. Fans of suspense, mystery
and police novels will like "The Betrayal."

I did not read the first
book in the series, other reviewers recommend to read the first one before this
one, you may enjoy this book more if you read The Brotherhood
(Precinct 11) first.

I
receive the EBook from the Tyndale summer reading list for my review

Friday, August 10, 2012

My greatest fear was that they would find us and make of us a sacrifice
beneath a full moon. Now you, Thomas, must help us destroy the circle of evil.

The last words of a dying woman would change the life of young Thomas. Raised
behind monastery walls, he knows nothing of his mysterious past or imminent
destiny. Now, in the heart of medieval England, a darkness threatens to
strangle truth. An ancient order tightens their ghostly grip on power, creating
fear and exiling those who would oppose them. Thomas leaves the monastery on an
important quest to fulfill his calling and bring light into the mysterious
world of the Druids.

This
book is packed with adventure and intrigue. Each chapter brings a new twist and
adds just enough information to allow the reader to discover what is going on
right alongside Thomas. The Christian theme is masterfully woven into the plot,
revealing itself more through Thomas's doubts than through any great displays
of faith.

Show MoreShow LessThis book
heralds as Christian fiction, but there was very little of God in the book.
Still, it fit in well with the storyline. Thomas does not believe in God, and
it's not until the end that his views are challenged and he is forced to
reconsider. The foreshadowing is that there will be more about his journey of
faith as the series unfolds, which just added the anticipation for the next
book.

The Orphan King by Sigmund Brouwer is a tale about
noble knights, ancient secrets, mysterious castles, evil conspiracy, love, and
the destiny of one young man that will change everything.I was disappointed with the story. In the
beginning of the book, I felt like I had jumped in the middle and I had missed
the whole back story. I found it hard to
really get into the book. I pressed through and about half way in I was able to
make sense of the book. The overall storyline is good and enjoyable and would
recommend this book for teens and young adults.

I received this EBook from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in their
Blogging for Books program for my review.

A new translation of the Bible into English does not
contain the name “Jesus Christ” or the word “angel.” It also prefers the word
“emissary” over “apostle.” Frank Couch, Thomas Nelson’s lead editor on the
project, told The Christian Post that the purpose of The Voice was to make the Gospel message easier to understand for
modern audiences.

“The
Voice has not claimed to more accurate than any other
translation, rather it is more easily understood than any other translation,”
said Couch.

Here is what Thomas Nelson’s Marketing folks have to
say about it:

The
Voice Bible translation is a faithful dynamic translation
of the Scriptures done as a collage of compelling narratives, poetry, song,
truth, and wisdom. The Voice calls
the reader to step into the whole story of Scripture and experience the joy and
wonder of God’s revelation created for and by a church in great transitions, The Voice uniquely represents
collaboration among scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other
artists, giving great attentions to the beauty of the narrative. The heart of The Voice is retelling the story of the
Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works yet remaining painstakingly
true to the original manuscripts. This translation promotes the public reading
of longer sections of Scripture-followed by thoughtful engagement with the biblical
narrative in its richness and fullness and dramatic flow.

There is controversy over the non-use of Jesus name,
Angel and Apostle to name a few. I was concerned that Jesus would not be
proclaimed as the Son of God, as in some new bible translations being sold. This
not the case with The Voice so I can
recommend this book as a useful resource to study the Word of God. It is easy
to understand. The notes that show who is talking and makes it easy to follow the
stories. Although I prefer other translations from Thomas Nelson Publishing, I don’t
believe that The Voice would lead
anyone into a false understanding of the one true God.

I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson
Publishing for my review.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Danger The Shadows, is about Sara
Walsh, who was abducted for nine days when she was a young child. Sara was found in a dark basement and the man
who kidnapped her is not and continues to terrorize her. She is a protected
woman, living with FBI protection and moving constantly to keep a step ahead of
the insane man who wants to control her.

This
is one of the books in the O'Malley series. It is filled with romance, mystery
and wit. ssOne stormy day she accidently meets a famous
retired football star, Adam, who is quite taken with her. The story will keep
you reading until the end.

Although
I liked the story, it had interesting characters, but not enough to really care
about them. It portrayed an overly wealthy O'Malley woman to fill so many pages
with food and apparel and apparent high security only the affluent can afford. To
enjoy the book you will have to suspend belief that it took so long to find the
killer since the reader will probably figure it out very quickly.The book can be entertaining if you need a
quick read during down times.